GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida High School Athletic Association is proud to announce the thirteen (13) newest members of the Florida High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

The 2022-23 school year marks the 55th anniversary of the merging of the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association and the Florida High School Athletic Association.  The FIAA was the regulating organization for athletics in black high schools before integration. In honor of this anniversary, the FHSAA prioritized Hall of Fame nominations affiliated with the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association from 1932-1968.

With the 33rd induction class, the FHSAA Hall of Fame celebrates more than 102 years of interscholastic competition featuring some of the most accomplished student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and officials from the state of Florida.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the 13 outstanding individuals and their impact on interscholastic athletics in Florida,” FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon said. “This year’s class includes trailblazers from the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association which merged with the FHSAA in 1968. It is with great pleasure we introduce them as the FHSAA Hall of Fame Class of 2023.” 
                                                             
                                                                    
.      Wayne M. Allen, an esteemed student athlete from Wildwood, Florida, and a successful girls’ basketball coach at Ocala Vanguard High School. Wayne M. Allen attended JRE Lee School from 1960-68 before the school was closed and merged with Wildwood High School where he attended from 1968-71. Allen was a standout athlete in football, basketball, track, and he was a member of the band. Allen began coaching in 1975 and in his over 4 decades of coaching, he had an outstanding high school coaching career. At Ocala Vanguard High School, he compiled a record of 168-32, while leading Vanguard’s girls’ basketball team to multiple final four appearances and two Florida Class 3A State Championships.

.       Archie W. Dabney, a compassionate multi-sport coach who was known for his illustrious career as both a coach and educator which spanned some 40 years in Citrus County, Florida. Beginning in 1955, Dabney coached for Booker T. Washington High School (now Inverness Middle School) where he coached football, baseball, basketball, and track. Under Coach Dabney’s leadership, he led the Booker T. Washington School “Hornets” to state championships in football, basketball, and boys’ and girls’ track. Coach Dabney won a state title in each sport as well as nine district titles in basketball. After schools were integrated in the late 1960s, Coach Dabney went to Crystal River High School when the school opened its doors during the 1967-1968 school year.  From 1968-1984 at Crystal River High School, Dabney coached football, basketball, track, and tennis. He also taught science and later worked as a guidance counselor.

.       Freddie Dyles, a legendary coach who coached St. Petersburg Gibbs High School for nearly 30 years. With a lifetime record of 674-236 he was the winningest boys high school basketball coach in Pinellas County of his time. Dyles led St. Petersburg Gibbs High School to a state basketball championship in the all-Black Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association (FIAAA) during the 1965-1966 school year. Gibbs High School became the first all-Black school to join the all-White Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) in 1967 and with Coach Dyles at the helm, Gibbs High School won a state championship in their first year in the FHSAA. Dyles won another FHSAA state championship during the 1968-1969 basketball season.

.       Blanche General Ely, an instrumental administrator and educator of 47 years of what is now known as Blanche Ely High School. In 1923 Mrs. Ely was named principal of what was then called the “Pompano Colored School.” Many years later when segregation was at its highest, and when Pompano Beach’s population began to grow, Mrs. Ely petitioned for a new public high school. Ely also worked to gain accreditation for the school along with building the curriculum. She also strongly believed in athletics as being a way for the overall betterment of student success.  Ely established basketball teams and later football teams so they could compete with other Black schools in and around Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach Counties. When she organized those teams, they started calling themselves Blanche Ely High. She served as principal from 1951-1970. She retired in 1970 when a federal desegregation order closed Blanche Ely High School. The school re-opened in 1974 as an integrated school. As a successful educator she has inspired young teachers and administrators to continue her work.

.       Mae Francis Foley, a multi-sport contest official who spent four decades officiating FHSAA athletic contests throughout Miami-Dade County.  In 1977, Foley joined the Greater Miami Athletic Conference (GMAC) and the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) as an independent contractor and game official through Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Foley registered as a three-sport official in volleyball, basketball, and softball in which she officiated hundreds of games.  Foley has officiated 14 State Championship contests and since 2020, she has been the Assistant Basketball Booking Commissioner for the Miami-Dade Basketball Officials Association. Foley has numerous accolades which include the 2021-2022 FHSAA Certificate for 40 years of Meritorious Service.

.       Bob Hayes, a multi-sport athlete, also known as “Bullet” Bob Hayes, is the only athlete to win both a Super Bowl ring and an Olympic gold medal. Hayes was once considered the world’s fastest man by virtue of his multiple world records in the 60-yard, 100-yard, 220-yard, and Olympic 100-meter dashes. Hayes attended Gilbert High School (now a middle school) in Jacksonville, Florida. There he was a member of the 1958 football team that went undefeated to become the first all-Black school to win a state football championship in Florida. Hayes excelled in both track and football at Florida A&M University in which he was the first person to break six seconds in the 60-yard dash with a time of 5.9 seconds in 1962. Hayes also represented the United States in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics by winning the gold medal in the 100-meter dash and the 4x100 relays where he produced a new world record of 39.06 seconds.  Hayes played 10 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and one season with the San Francisco 49ers. Hayes has been credited by many with forcing the NFL to develop a zone defense and the bump and run to attempt to contain him.  Hayes holds 10 regular season receiving records, four punt return records and 22 overall franchise marks, making him one of the greatest receivers to ever play for the Cowboys. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

.       Carmen Jackson, a decorated coach who in her more than 30 years of coaching, owns 18 FHSAA state Track and Field championships at Miami Northwestern Senior High School. 14 of those titles were won consecutively between 2009-2023. She was named Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association Coach of the Year four times, the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year five times, the Florida Dairy Farmers Coach of the Year 10 times and has been named the Miami Herald Track Coach of the Year 19 times. Jackson was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.

.       Earl S. Kitchings, a pioneer in the Jacksonville coaching community who became the Head Coach and Athletic Director for Matthew Gilbert High School in 1957. Kitchings coached one of the most talented football teams in Florida during the segregation era, where the Matthew Gilbert High School Panthers’ football team won the first ever Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship football game in 1958. Kitchings led the Panthers to an 11-0 record. The 1958 Matthew Gilbert Panthers outscored its opponents 254-43. Kitchings was also the first head coach and Athletic Director at William Raines Senior High School in 1965, where he coached until 1969. While at Raines, he led the school to a FIAA State Football Championship in 1967, finishing with a record of 8-1-1. Kitchings recorded an overall coaching record of 85-33-12 between Matthew Gilbert High School and Williams Raines Senior High School. Kitchings won two FIAA State Championships, two Big 9 North Championships, three Gateway 4 Conference Championships, three Gateway 5 Conference Championships and one Gateway 6 Conference Championship. Kitchings was inducted into the William Raines High School Sports Hall of Fame, the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame, the Florida A&M University Sports Hall of Fame, and the Bob Hayes Track Meet Hall of Fame. He also was a member of the FIAA between 1956-1967 and he served as President of the FIAA between 1963-1967.

.       Larry Little, an accomplished two-way lineman who played football at Booker T. Washington Senior High School in Miami, Florida and had a prominent collegiate and professional football career. Little attended Bethune-Cookman College from 1964-1967 and played on both sides of the ball as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman. Little was a three-time All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) selection. Little’s professional career is highlighted by helping the Miami Dolphins become of the NFL’s most dominant teams in the 1970s. As Little was praised as one of the NFL’s premier offensive linemen, he was a key piece of the Miami Dolphin’s historic undefeated 1972 NFL season. Little was named First-Team All-Pro five times from 1969 to 1975, played in five Pro Bowls, and was named the NFL Players Association’s AFC Offensive Lineman of the year three times. Little was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993 and was selected to the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade Team.

.       Marcia Pinder, an esteemed basketball coach who is regarded as the all-time winningest basketball coach in Florida. Pinder had a 996-231 record during her 44 seasons as Fort Lauderdale Dillard High School girls’ basketball coach. She led the Lady Panthers to 10 state FHSAA state championship titles. Pinder was honored with the Miami Herald’s lifetime achievement award in 2013.  Pinder was also inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) Hall of Fame in 2014 and was the first coach from the Broward County Athletic Association to be so honored. Pinder was named the Florida Dairy Farmers Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year five times and she received the Morgan Wootten Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

.       Nathaniel “Traz” Powell, a pioneer in football who became the head coach at George Washington Carver High School in Miami in 1948.  George Washington Carver High school was a K-12 segregated black school where Powell led the Carver Hornets to five undefeated FIAA state championships from 1948-1965. In 1966, Powell went on to coach at Mays High School in Goulds, FL where he won another state championship. Powell compiled a 167-37-3 record in his 21 years as a high school football coach and never had a losing season. Powell became one of the top high school coaches in the pre-integration, Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association.

.       Frankie Shannon Rolle, an instrumental administrator who served as an educator at George Washington Carver School for 42 years, which at the time she served, was a K-12 segregated black school. She worked as a physical education teacher and in later years as a counselor. Rolle was also a girls’ basketball, cheerleader, and track coach. Now a middle school, George Washington Carver’s gymnasium was named in her honor in 1987 upon her retirement. A plethora of community and civic involvement and service has permeated her life. She was a member of the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority on the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board, the Helen B. Bentley Family Health Center Board of Directors, the Miami/Bahamas Goombay Festival in Coconut Grove Inc., The Coconut Grove Negro and Women’s Club, Inc., and a member of the FAMU Alumni Association. She served as president of the FAMU Alumni Association Miami chapter president from 1970-72 and she was president of the Miami Gold Coast chapter from 1982-83.

.       Vernell Ross, a legendary coach who compiled over 300 victories, appeared in eight State Playoffs, and won 3 State Championships in 1971, 1974 and in 1978 as head boys basketball coach at Northside High School in Havana, Florida. Ross began coaching the boys’ basketball team in 1962 when the Florida Interscholastic Athletic Association (FIAA) during segregation was still the organization of athletic programs for black high schools in Florida. Ross also served as the Head Coach of Northside High School’s baseball team from 1968-1971 and served as the Head Coach of the girls track team from 1979-1985 where he won four District titles. Along with serving as a High School coach for 25 years, he won Coach of the year in Basketball in 1965-66, 1971-74 and in 1978.  Ross was inducted into the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, he was inducted into the Havana Northside High School of Fame in 1986, and he was inducted into the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999. He was also inducted into the Gibbs High School Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Gadsden County High School Hall of Fame in 2017. Ross became the first Black mayor in Havana and served as Councilman for the Town of Havana for over 36 years.



About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association supervises and regulates interscholastic athletic programs for high school students at member public, private and charter schools. The organization also recognizes and honors academic achievement among student-athletes at over 800 middle, junior and senior high schools statewide. Headquartered in Gainesville, it is the official governing body for interscholastic athletics in Florida.